The citizens in two-thirds of countries now have less than 50 per cent trust in business, government, media and NGOs to do what is right according to the 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer.

By comparison, the 2016 Barometer revealed just over half the countries surveyed had trust levels below 50 per cent. Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman, called these findings an “implosion of trust”.

Trust in all four mainstream institutions to do what is right declined in 2017, a first in the time Edelman has been measuring trust levels.

Of the institutions media fared worst, now distrusted in 82 per cent of countries. In only five countries is media trust above 50 per cent: Singapore, China, India, Indonesia, and the Netherlands.

More broadly, the 2017 Trust Barometer reveals that only 15 per cent of people believe the present societal system is working, while 53 per cent do not and 32 per cent are uncertain.

On a corporate level, the credibility of CEOs dropped to 37 per cent globally. In Japan, CEO credibility is only 18 per cent. “A person like yourself” is equally as credible as an academic or technical expert, and far more credible than a CEO or government official – government officials and regulators are the least credible spokespeople, rating at 29 per cent.

The Edelman Trust Barometer is an online survey conducted in 28 countries over the last 17 years with a total number of more than 33,000 respondents. For the 2017 edition, all surveys were conducted between October 13 and November 16, 2016.

For more information view the global results or executive summary on the Edelman website.

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